Here’s a post for all you budding bread makers out there; our new sourdough starters by post! Not that this is an entirely new idea as there are many places that will mail you a starter. The idea is that we’ll supply an initially frozen starter, which will probably be thawed by the time it gets to you but hopefully won’t have exploded out of the pot!
I’m using Avery labels E3613 with our logo stuck on 1 oz round clear plastic portion pots with hinged lids, used for things like sauces, so they hold liquid well and are remarkably strong. I was hoping for something letter-sized but had to go with small parcel size, which is a pain as postal costs are higher.
The following is my two-day test to see how this would work with white, wholemeal and rye starters, both refrigerated and frozen. The first thing to do is to get all the components together. I kicked off three sibling starters the day before, so I don’t have to work with my ‘production’ starters.
Next step to fill the pots, two of each, one set going into the fridge as a ‘control’ as I know I can easily revive a refrigerated starter. The other the three pots to go into the freezer. Prior experience has shown that starters are best stored just after a feed when the growth has just or mostly stopped.
The next day I popped them into a small jar, using a warm spoon to release the frozen starter, with 20ml warm water to dissolve it. It took about 15 minutes to soften.
Once the starter is nicely mixed with warm water then I simply mixed in 20g of flour to complete the feed hoping for some revival of the yeast.
Finally, I could cover and set aside and wait, and wait…
After a few hours at room temperature, it was a cold day, some activity!
So there we have it. A successful revival of all three refrigerated and frozen starters, although the whole meal took a while longer. All you need to do now is transfer to a larger container and refresh with your chosen quantities of flour and water.
To recap:
- 20 g of frozen starter
- 20 ml of warm water
- 20 g of flour
When you get some activity, leave for a bit longer then refresh with:
- 100 g of flour
- 100 ml of warm water
When you want to use the starter, take half the mix, refresh and set aside ready for use when it’s active, then refresh your ‘mother’ starter and keep safe.
As a final tip, when you’re happy with your starter, freeze some as a backup.
These are soon to be available in our online store.
Happy baking,
David.
Bean & Grain